Sonny, you mentioned your tune, Banjo Boy Chimes (great tune, BTW). I'm curious to know what you think about Alan Munde's recording of it on his, Banjo Sandwich LP. David R. David, thank you for your time, and for joining us in
Opinion / Humor
From The Side of the Road… it’s raining bluegrass email scams!
When it rains email scams, it pours. The same is true for bogus voice mails, fake text messages, and phony faxes (in the '90s). Most of my current scammy voice mails are about expiring warranties. I'm a terrible target for this
Ask Sonny Anything… why do you call today’s bluegrass weak country?
Hey Sonny, I would love to know if you have any memories/recollections of bass player Ernie Newton who was featured on so many Nashville sessions in the 1940s and '50s, including many bluegrass recordings with Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The
From The Side of the Road… time off goals versus reality
Last December, we took a look at some of the ways that bluegrass musicians' lofty pandemic goals had run smack into the brick wall of reality. For many of us, the last 18 months have at times felt like a
Ask Sonny Anything… did banjo tone change with plastic heads?
Sonny, I can't thank you enough for your insightful article that you both produce each week. I read a lot of music articles in various online publications on a daily basis, a few are pretty good, most are just fair,
From The Side of the Road… movie tag lines for bluegrass standards
Last week we discussed movie taglines, those one or two sentence teasers meant to entice us to rush out (or in) to see the film. As I said, they can range from the overly sparse: "An Event" (Earthquake), to the plot-spoiling
Live bluegrass is back… bring on World of Bluegrass!
Bluegrass lovers enjoying live music at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival - photo by Frank Baker Last Friday night, in Kodak, TN, Darin & Brooke Aldridge were no more than a few measures into Tear Stained Letter when I scribbled in my
Ask Sonny Anything… did Earl ever get bored with the banjo?
Hello Sonny. I seen the brothers many times in and around Burlington, NC at Bass Mountain festival and The Big O Jamboree. Do you remember the Big O and any stories? One time I remember seeing Glen Duncan was on
From The Side of the Road… examining movie tag lines
Before a new movie rolls out, motion picture studios all have the challenging task of boiling down each release into a pithy, one sentence tagline for the movie poster and other advertising. The idea is to both summarize the concept
Ask Sonny Anything… a look back at 2019
Sonny wasn't able to get us answers to your questions this week, so we figured it would be fun to take a look back at the second column he did, back in June 2019. Hopefully he'll be back on track for next week. You've



